Your war hammer is too fake

A loud rumble interrupted what Oakley was about to say. The dwarf chief looked in the direction of the sound in astonishment, and saw groups of forest goblins and their giant spider friends flying in the sky, most of which stopped struggling before falling back to the ground.

A cloud rushed past the dwarf chief with a "whoosh".

"What is that? I think I see someone up there?!" Oakley heard himself shouting.

"It's a human!" A sharp-eyed heavy-arrow crossbowman answered loudly: "A female human!"

The cloud circled over the battlefield, and when it circled back again, Oakley saw the metal tools scattered on the battlefield: sharp axes, heavy hammers, rusty spearheads, bent daggers, all of which flew up abnormally. They gathered together in midair, and then merged into a huge metal ball under the incredible gaze of the dwarves. Time seemed to have paused at this moment. The next moment, the metal ball disintegrated into thousands of sharp spikes, covering the fleeing forest goblins like a torrential rain.

No greenskin or spider could escape from this spell. The originally noisy and chaotic battlefield suddenly became filled with only the sounds of the dwarves themselves.

The cloud flew over and stopped a few dozen meters away from the dwarves. Then, the cloud disappeared, and a female human in purple clothes appeared in Oakley's sight.

"Hello, friends from the mountains," the other party said in a very standard Khazali dialect, "Now is not the time to relax, dwarves. I found another group of greenskins two hills away. If I guess correctly, the mission of this group of forest goblins is to divert your warriors so that their main force can take this place."

The dwarves were talking among themselves.

"Are you a mage?" Oakley asked loudly.

"Yes, I am a wizard." The other party admitted it straightforwardly.

"Magic doesn't sound reliable. Mages are all scumbags! They are as untrustworthy as elves!" Oakley yelled, then changed the subject: "But anyway, you helped us. You said there is a group of greenskins outside?"

"There are about a thousand greenskins, and orcs account for almost half of them. I also saw a few trolls." The female human replied.

"You don't look like a traveler or a merchant - but that doesn't matter. Listen, human, if you haven't found a campsite for today, my clan welcomes you to visit," the dwarf chief said, "and do you want to earn some dwarven gold?"

……

This is a small but fully equipped settlement.

It was not until she entered here that An Jiyue discovered that in this settlement of perhaps only about 200 dwarf residents, there was actually a hotel specifically for foreigners. According to the dwarf chieftain named Oakley, they were an agricultural clan affiliated with Karazaoa Karak, also known as the Eternal Peak. They were not far from the famous Silver Road, so caravans often passed by this place. Oakley himself could even speak the halting Aurora Mandarin.

After dealing with the invading forest goblins, Oakley dispatched more sentinels to guard the surroundings and summoned several long-bearded elders in the clan to discuss the next countermeasures. An Jiyue was led to the empty inn.

This is a typical dwarven building, clean and neat, with no unnecessary decorations. No one else lives in the hotel. It is said that the Silver Road has been very uneasy recently, with greenskins, ratmen and all kinds of messes making trouble, resulting in no travelers or caravans being seen here for several weeks.

Around noon, a dwarf lady with arms as thick as An Jiyue's waist brought An Jiyue's lunch: a piece of stewed goat meat as big as the girl's head, cheese that was bigger than that, bread, and a large bowl of thick broth. A few berries covered with fat floated in the broth, which was the only vegetarian dish in this lunch.

After dinner, An Jiyue had no intention of going out for a walk. As a Warhammer fan, she knew very well how the dwarves viewed magic and wizards. She couldn't tell others about her origins, and the position of wizards in the Warhammer world was particularly delicate. At this time, it was better not to do anything that could easily cause misunderstanding.

The girl stayed in the hotel room for the whole afternoon. When it was almost evening, she did not wait for her dinner, but waited for Oakley, the dwarf chief, to come.

"Come with me," Oakley said to An Jiyue, "someone wants to see you."

Chapter 4: Reaching an Agreement

Oakley Phillipson led An Jiuyue all the way to the largest stone house in the town.

"Ah, relax, girl," said the man who wanted to see An Jiyue. "The first time I saw you, I believed that you were a good kid, at least to the dwarves. Of course, this is just my personal opinion. In order to convince other people in the clan, what we are going to do next is necessary."

A white-haired female dwarf sat on a low couch and smiled at An Jiyue, who looked surprised. This was a very old female dwarf, with deep furrows on her face due to her sagging skin. If her hair was tied up and let down, it might be longer than An Jiyue's height. However, compared with her decadent appearance, her eyes were bright and she didn't look like a dying old person at all. She patted the low couch under her and motioned An Jiyue to sit next to her.

"You can call me Dagna. What's your name?"

"An Jiyue. An is the surname." For a moment, the face of the old dwarf in front of her almost overlapped with the face of An Jiyue's grandmother who had passed away many years ago. "'Jiyue' means bright moon." She added.

An Jiyue sat down next to the female dwarf. It was only then that she noticed that Dagna's legs were only half thighs. "I know your race fairly well," the girl said, moving her eyes away from Dagna's legs. "Oakley said he wanted to hire me as a wizard to help fight the greenskins, and then I saw him arguing with another dwarf."

"Magic is fickle and unpredictable, coming from the 'bright moon' of Cathay," Dagna said, "so my people never use this dangerous power, but rely on the runes taught by our ancestors to solve difficulties that cannot be overcome by axe blades and courage alone."

As he spoke, the old dwarf took off a necklace from his neck. The entire necklace was made of high-purity gold, and hung on it an equally shiny amulet. On the front of the amulet was engraved a rune that An Jiyue did not recognize - the girl could only tell from the light purple color of its bright silver that it was an amulet rune (Note 1).

"Put it on your forehead," the old dwarf said. "It will not harm you, as long as you are not a dog of Chaos or one of those vampire bats of Sylvania. You can refuse it, and we will still treat you with courtesy as a guest. This is a dwarf's promise to you."

An Jiyue reached out to take the necklace, and immediately withdrew her mind. Under the gaze of the old dwarf and Oakley who stood aside stiffly, the girl put the amulet on her forehead with a very natural expression. Of course, nothing happened.

"See, I told you that you could trust her," Dagna said with a hint of reproach in her tone. "Do you think I'm old and confused?"

"Grandma." Oakley addressed Dagna, causing An Jiyue to frown. She heard the dwarf chief say with particular grievance, "I just don't want the clan to take risks. Anyway, we are very close to the Eternal Peak."

"Don't push all the problems that you can solve onto His Majesty Thorgrim," Dagna said to her grandson seriously. "Although we won the Battle of the Narrow Pass four years ago, we also lost a lot of our people. Recently, the entire Silver Road has been in trouble with greenskins and rats. Eternal Peak is now short of manpower. We must find ways to solve some problems ourselves."

As he spoke, the old dwarf looked at An Jiuyue who had been watching silently: "The winds of magic are unpredictable and unpredictable, so we never trust magic and wizards. But you are different. When they flow around you, even the most unruly beast winds will become calm and obedient. I don't know how you did it, girl, but I know that this power can help the clan solve its current predicament, and even help His Majesty Thorgrim, and do more."

Dagna seemed a little tired from talking so much in one breath. The old dwarf, whose age was unknown, lay back slightly, resting his back on the cushion filled with pebbles and feathers.

"Dwarves never mistreat those who have done us a favor, just as we will never forgive anyone who has hurt us," Dagna took a breath. "My clan has enough wealth to pay you."

"There is one thing I'm curious about," An Jiyue reached out and carefully tucked the blanket covering the old dwarf, "You seem very sure that I will accept your employment."

"You are confused," Dagna answered irrelevantly, "You can't be a traveler or a merchant. This is the Silver Road. No matter where you come from, it takes a long and difficult journey to get here, but you look as if you were leisurely eating grapes at home the last moment, and appeared here the next moment. You don't have to tell me where you came from, it's not necessary. No matter what plans you make for your future, you first need a stable place to stay."

The old dwarf winked at An Jiyue and said, "Here, in the World's Edge Mountains, besides establishing good relations with us, who else can you choose as a human being?"

"Very convincing words," An Jiyue nodded in agreement, "So, what do you need me to do?"

……

After leaving Dagna's residence, An Jiyue and Oakley walked side by side on the road.

Even though it was just a tiny town, the meticulous dwarves paved smooth streets with rocks in the town, connecting residences, shops, warehouses, military camps and other buildings. As dusk approached, the street lights lined up along the street lit up one by one, illuminating this valley town that had just suffered the baptism of war during the day.

At first An Jiyue didn't react, but after a moment she suddenly realized that those street lights... seemed to be electric lights?

"I was planning to ask for help from Eternal Peak," Oakley said in a deep voice after walking some distance away, "You can fly in the sky without riding any messy beasts or the weird inventions of engineers, which makes you a good scout. As long as the reinforcements from Eternal Peak arrive, you can lead our warriors to chase the greenskins in the valley. Those damn bastards, don't even think about escaping from the dwarf land!"

The dwarf chief stomped his foot in hatred and said, "But grandma is right. His Majesty Thorgrim has enough troubles. If he sends troops to every stronghold that is attacked, then we will probably have to rely on short-bearded boys and women to defend the walls of Eternal Peak. Maybe I should raise the price, witch. We will take the initiative to attack. Since grandma thinks you are trustworthy, then I am willing to trust you once."

"I will set up a barrier around the town," An Jiyue said, "It will prevent any unwelcome guys from entering the town, so that when your warriors are out fighting the greenskins, no one will take the opportunity to attack your homes."

"That sounds good," Oakley said noncommittally. "How long can it last, and what level of attack can it defend against?"

"That depends on how much time you can give me to prepare," An Jiyue replied. She looked around and saw that with the help of street lights, even though it was almost night, the dwarves in the town were still coming and going, transporting supplies, building fortifications, and reinforcing houses, preparing for the upcoming battle in an orderly manner.

"If you set out tomorrow, I can set up a temporary barrier overnight that will last for about a week. It can withstand the siege of the greenskin army I saw during the day for at least six hours."

"Can't it be longer?" Oakley asked dissatisfiedly.

"Time is too tight. And I don't have any suitable equipment to help me do this." An Jiyue spread his hands. "Can your blacksmiths forge with just their fists? The principle is the same."

The dwarf chieftain snorted. "We haven't hired a wizard for a long time," he said, "so I don't know how to calculate your commission. I can only calculate the fee I should pay you based on the price of hiring a reputable runesmith. What do you think?"

"I have no objection." Dwarves, such creatures, would actually hire wizards? An Jiyue thought about it for a while before realizing that Oakley was referring to the old calendar of the elf-dwarf honeymoon period. At that time, dwarves and high elves often cooperated to create magic items. The dwarf rune blacksmiths were responsible for forging, and the high elf wizards enchanted them.

——In the end, they were all crushed in the Battle of Changxu.

……

Note 1: Dwarven runes are divided into five types: weapon runes, armor runes, banner runes, amulet runes, and engineering runes. The colors of the five runes are different. Weapon runes are gold, armor runes are silver, banner runes are silver with blue, amulet runes are silver with purple, and engineering runes are gold with an orange tint.

Chapter 5: Expedition and News about the Rat People

At daybreak the dwarves gathered.

Hundreds of dwarves wearing heavy armor and equipped with axes, hammers, crossbows and muskets gathered in the clan camp. Under the command of several veterans, they formed several small squares according to their arms. The most eye-catching among them were a dozen long-bearded warriors who kept chattering. These veteran warriors who had fought for many years kept complaining that the greenskins were becoming less and less resistant to fighting, and that they could beat them to a pulp with just this and that... and the other dwarves, those short-bearded guys, could only listen obediently at this time.

Amidst a loud roar, several dwarves drove out of the armory a steam tractor, which was towing three flatbed carts in a string.

In An Jiyue's opinion, this tractor looked exactly the same as an old locomotive, except that the running mechanism was wheels. As soon as the tractor stopped, the dwarves began to load supplies onto the flatbed cart behind it: arrows, lead bullets, gunpowder, barrels of beer, and spare weapons and protective gear.

Oakley's tribe prepared half a month's worth of supplies, plus enough weapons and ammunition to fight three high-intensity battles. Most of the supplies were piled on a flatbed cart, but the food and half of the beer were carried by the warriors themselves. Each dwarf who was about to go out on the expedition carried a huge backpack filled to the brim with bread, dried meat, and a wine flask.

More than half of the entire clan's population was here. Only the elderly, children, women and a dozen adult men were left in the town. At Oakley's insistence, several long-bearded elders in the clan stayed. When An Jiyue, who had only slept for two hours, rubbed her eyes and staggered to the military camp, the first thing she saw was these old guys with gray beards standing on the parade ground, nagging at Oakley with their beards and eyes wide open.

"Good morning." An Jiyue greeted Oakley with half-closed eyes, and suddenly felt a weight in her hand. When she lowered her head, she found a bulging backpack in her arms, covered with a set of chain mail that was obviously made in a hurry.

"Your supplies." Oakley, who had finally freed himself from the verbal bombardment of the long-bearded elders, waved his hand impatiently at An Jiyue. "They are all food for humans, and the wine is also for humans to drink." The dwarf chief changed into a set of star iron armor, carrying a one-handed axe and a heavy round shield on his back, "Don't lose it, otherwise you can only pray that your teeth can deal with the solid and reliable dwarf bread."

"Um... I'm an alchemist. We in this profession must abstain from alcohol for life." When writing the detailed setting of the Aurora alchemist, An Jiyue happened to attend a company team building and was forced to drink by a drunk leader. Afterwards, An cursed the idiot boss to drink himself to death in his heart, while gnashing his teeth and adding the setting that alchemists cannot touch alcohol in the setting collection.

"What?!" Oakley's eyes widened immediately: "It's ok for you to use magic, but you don't even want to drink?!"

"This is our ancestral rule," An Jiyue said to Oakley with a particularly serious expression, "This is the tradition left by our ancestors."

As a Hammer guy, An Jiyue knew very well how to deal with dwarves. As expected, as soon as words like "ancestral system" and "tradition" popped up, Oakley immediately put on an expression of deep agreement: "Is this the teaching from your ancestors? You must respect the traditions left by your ancestors, whether you are dwarves or humans."

"Take this," An Jiyue put the heavy backpack next to her feet, and handed Oakley a carefully polished pebble. "I made a magic mark in this stone. As long as the straight-line distance is not more than 200 kilometers, I can sense its location. I am not familiar with the terrain here, and this thing can help me find you accurately so that I won't get lost."

The dwarf chief took the stone and kept it close to his body. "Are you leaving?" Oakley asked.

"The forest goblins failed to lure your warriors away from the town," An Jiyue put on the chain mail and found that it fit her unexpectedly well... except that it was a little tight on her chest. "The greenskin leader must have realized that his plan had failed. Greenskins who can become leaders are all very cunning. In this case, they may choose to give up."

"And then go and wreak havoc on other strongholds in the mountains," Oakley said. "Ha, wishful thinking!"

"If the greenskins have left the camp I found yesterday, or if something else has happened, I will return immediately," An Jiyue put on his armor and tied a leather belt around his waist. "If they are still in the original location, I will keep an eye on them. You just need to act according to the original plan."

"I don't need you to teach me how to fight, Little Moon," the dwarf chief puffed out his chest, "You said yesterday that you were only 20 years old? That means that when your great-grandfather was not even born yet, I had already chopped off hundreds of greenskins' heads!"

"I certainly won't question the combat experience of a dwarf chieftain," An Jiyue picked up the backpack at her feet and threw it on her back. "I'm leaving. No matter what the result is, I will be back by dusk at the latest."

After saying that, An Jiyue rode the cloud straight into the blue sky.

……

An hour later, An Jiyue came back—bringing with her a seriously injured dwarf.

"I found him in an abandoned outpost," An Jiyue pointed at the rather embarrassed-looking dwarf ranger beside him, "The good news is that the greenskins are still there. The bad news is... you tell me."

"We were ambushed by rats... Thank you." The dwarf ranger took the wine flask handed by Oakley, raised his head and took a big gulp. "Hiccup~ This morning, I and three other rangers were on patrol. We ran into a group of goblins from nowhere about four hills away from here. We lost a companion, but also killed several dozen goblins. Then those rats crawled out from underground and attacked us and the goblins at the same time. My people died, and I almost went to see my ancestors."

"If I had been a minute later, you wouldn't have seen him," An Jiyue said, throwing a blood-stained totem symbol on the ground. "This is the totem of those goblins. You may recognize which tribe this symbol belongs to."

"Oh, so it's an 'old friend' from the Blood Spear Tribe," Oakley glanced at the totem, "Very good, a lot of things make sense now. Where are those rats?"

"Some random little clans," the dwarf ranger spat on the ground, "mostly showing up around here for the first time."

"As far as I know, a Skaven army going out to fight is usually composed of a relatively powerful clan as the leader, plus a group of small clans that are vassal to them. It is rare for all members of a Skaven army to come from the same clan," An Jiyue said. "If that group of rats all come from small clans with little power, then there must be a powerful warlord clan behind them that is secretly controlling the situation."

"Few humans can understand Skaven so well," Oakley glanced at An Jiyue, "The Imperials have always claimed that Skaven do not exist. It is a delusion and an illusion."

"I'm from Zhendan," An Jiyue shrugged. "The Tyrells know as much about rats as you do. Only the Imperials have been covering their eyes and pretending to be blind. So, what are you going to do?"

"Have you ever seen dwarves retreating before the battle even started?" Oakley looked a little angry: "We have to speed up our actions and get rid of those greenskins first. If the rats want to die, let them come!"

Chapter 6 Intelligence (Part 1)

Dwarves are a resilient race, both physically and mentally.

Dwarves are born with broad shoulders, protruding bellies, thick arms and wide feet, with well-developed muscles and very low body fat. They are born with amazing endurance and can dig tunnels for hours without getting tired; this is reflected in military operations, that is, dwarves can march directly in full armor.

When they set out from the town, all the dwarves put on their armor and carried heavy backpacks full of food. They sang rhythmic dwarven songs in unison and marched on the undulating mountain roads. The ranger rescued by An Jiyue said goodbye to Oakley after hastily treating his wounds and disappeared alone among the mountains.

When it was almost noon and the dwarves stopped to rest and eat lunch, the ranger returned with a dozen of his companions. These were the companions he had summoned from the nearby ranger camp. The newly joined dwarves became the eyes and ears of this small force, and they would take on all the reconnaissance and vigilance work in the upcoming battle.

An Jiyue also came back at lunch time.

"The greenskins are starting to move," the girl gestured on the map Oakley brought, "They are heading east. At their current speed. If they don't change direction or stop halfway, they will probably arrive... here in the evening." She pointed to a location on the map.

Oakley and several of the oldest long-bearded warriors craned their necks to look. "Something's wrong," a long-bearded warrior with a long-handled warhammer shouted, "We have wiped out the forest goblins, and the remaining greenskins either charged in or ran away. Why would they go east? The east is Eternal Peak, and thousands of greenskins dare not go there."

"Next, I plan to go to this location for reconnaissance, which will take time." An Jiyue actually returned specifically for this sentence. "After all, I am really unfamiliar with the terrain of this place, and you are all afraid of heights and cannot move with me. I can only search one hill after another, and have to stop from time to time to confirm the direction. I will try to return before nightfall."

"Be careful, Little Moon. Grandma loves you very much. She will be sad if you die."

"Can't you say something auspicious?" An Jiyue rolled her eyes at him. "By the way, why are you eating separately when you've all joined together?"

It was only then that An Jiyue noticed that there were a dozen rangers wearing cloaks and stuffed with weapons (Note 1) at the scene. They sat on the ground in a circle, silently chewing on cold dry food, as if there was an invisible wall between them and the other dwarves.

"They are rangers," Oakley replied. "Would you like some hot soup?" he said.

"Your skill in changing the subject is as good as your grandmother's legs." The girl shook her head. "Although I have read about the delicate status of rangers in your society in books before, but... never mind. It's nothing."

After drinking half a bowl of thick bacon bean soup to drive away the chill brought by the mountain wind, An Jiyue continued her work. When she flew over a mountain, An Jiyue randomly found a place to land, and then calculated her position on the map - there were actually three pebbles with spell marks, one of which An Jiyue gave to Oakley, one was in the town, and the last one was placed by her on the top of a mountain in the north of the town.

Spreading out the map given by Oakley, An Jiyue used a charcoal pencil to mark the positions of the three positioning stones on it one by one, and finally drew a cross at the possible destination of the greenskin. The girl used her divine sense to sense the direction of the three positioning stones and their distance from herself, and without the help of paper and pen, she calculated her current approximate location through triangulation in her mind.

Then, she calculated how far the dwarves could reach by dusk at their marching speed. She calculated many times with different prerequisites, and finally came to the conclusion that unless they abandoned all the baggage, even the backpacks, and marched with only weapons and equipment, it would be impossible to intercept the thousands of greenskins on the move.

Ideas popped up in her mind one after another, and then were rejected one after another. An Jiyue would land every time she flew a certain distance, and with the help of the positioning stone, she would use the triangulation method to reconfirm her position. The girl, who was unfamiliar with the terrain and had no guide, could only rely on this method to avoid getting lost in the mountains.

The sun was setting. An Jiyue, chewing a piece of cheese in her mouth, walked back and forth between a dozen hills for a few times, and finally found what she was looking for by the campfire.

A large greenskin camp.

An Jiyue was not a professional scout, and did not have the ability to know the approximate size of the enemy with just a few glances, and the Taoist's knowledge did not include this aspect. But she had seen tens of thousands of people gathered together to celebrate the festival, so she knew that in the greenskin camp in the distance, there must be more than 10,000 greenskins of all sizes.

The girl was a little mad. If there were only the thousand or so greenskins before, she could try to deal with them by relying on the individual quality and equipment advantages of the dwarves, plus her magic, but this real greenskin army would require at least two thousand dwarf warriors to deal with, and there must be sufficient heavy firepower support.

Oakley's group had no choice but to retreat. There was a difference between being brave and committing suicide. Their town was unlikely to be saved, so running away early would reduce some of the losses... Although An Jiyue knew the dwarves well, they would never abandon their homes, and would rather die than retreat.

Just as An Jiyue was about to leave, she felt something was wrong. After observing for a while, the girl turned into a golden eagle and flew over the greenskin camp to observe closely.